I can't disentangle the "rigged system" belief from what happened to Florida State at the end of last year. I doubt that it's at the forefront of fans' minds when they throw things, but it didn't quell any suspicions that the conspiratorially-minded may have held. That distrust of the disparate entities that serve as the institutions governing the sport (conferences, television networks, the CFP committee, the NCAA) has seeped into the in-stadium experience and I think these incidents reflect that. The fact that the sport doesn't have anyone in particular in charge, a Goodell or Silver to address the issue, probably only worsens this.
As an example from my corner of the sports world, we had two playoff matches in MLS swing on close refereeing decisions (a close offside call and a judgment call on a handball) last year. The league was criticized for a lack of transparency over the referee's decisions not to overturn either call on video review. In the off-season, the league and the Professional Referee Organization started having referees explain their video review decisions with an on-field microphone. There are still judgment calls made and missed, but at the very least that 1) partially solved the transparency issue and 2) showed that the league understood that there was an issue at all.
College football, because they lack anyone visibly in charge of the whole thing, ends up appearing sort of rudderless, which worsens the impotent fury that drives a person to fling trash like that.
Yes to everything you've said. Ugh.
I can't disentangle the "rigged system" belief from what happened to Florida State at the end of last year. I doubt that it's at the forefront of fans' minds when they throw things, but it didn't quell any suspicions that the conspiratorially-minded may have held. That distrust of the disparate entities that serve as the institutions governing the sport (conferences, television networks, the CFP committee, the NCAA) has seeped into the in-stadium experience and I think these incidents reflect that. The fact that the sport doesn't have anyone in particular in charge, a Goodell or Silver to address the issue, probably only worsens this.
As an example from my corner of the sports world, we had two playoff matches in MLS swing on close refereeing decisions (a close offside call and a judgment call on a handball) last year. The league was criticized for a lack of transparency over the referee's decisions not to overturn either call on video review. In the off-season, the league and the Professional Referee Organization started having referees explain their video review decisions with an on-field microphone. There are still judgment calls made and missed, but at the very least that 1) partially solved the transparency issue and 2) showed that the league understood that there was an issue at all.
College football, because they lack anyone visibly in charge of the whole thing, ends up appearing sort of rudderless, which worsens the impotent fury that drives a person to fling trash like that.